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Add Rooms & Locations (RLCs)

Creating your rooms/locations (RLCs) is the final step when creating an activity. The RLCs are where assignments and attendance are recorded. An RLC can be an actual location in your building (room 102) or it can be a representation of a group of participants (such as 1st Grade). The RLC name will print on your Check-in name tags, so the naming convention you choose for your RLCs depends in part on how large your church is. For example, if people can check-in to an activity all over your campus, you may find it helpful to name your RLCs by location to help visitors quickly find the meeting location. If you have a smaller campus, you can choose to call these RLCs any name that makes sense for your church.

Some examples for RLCs are:

• Yellow Hall - RM 202 - 2nd Grade
• 4th Grade
• Kids Hall - 3 Year Olds
• RM 118 - The Life of David

Tip! Try to limit the number of characters in your RLC names. The more characters you add, the smaller the font becomes when the RLC name prints on the Check-in name tag. The recommendation is to keep the name under 14 characters to display the maximum size font.

Another consideration you should make is the idea of virtual rooms. Virtual rooms come in to play when you have several age groups that meet in the same physical location, but you want to represent them separately. For example, Kindergarten - 2nd Grade may all meet in the same physical location, but that is not necessarily how you want to represent these participants when you are running attendance reports. It is sometimes very important to only see information related to 1st Grade. If you created one RLC called Kindergarten - 2nd Grade, manual work would have to be done to report results to isolate just 1st Grade participants.

Consider creating a separate room for each of your age groups if possible to help you with your reporting and communication strategies.

To create an RLC:

1. Click Ministry > Activity/Room Setup > Rooms & Locations. The Add/Edit Room, Location, Class form appears. Ensure that the correct ministry is displayed in the ministry box at the top of the form and the correct activity is displayed in the Show activity drop-down list at the bottom of the form.
2. In the Room, Location, Class Properties box, type the RLC name in the Name field. Remember to keep in mind that the font size on the printed name tag decreases after 14 characters have been entered.
3. Select the correct activity RLC Group from the Group/Sub-Group drop-down list.
4. In the Check-in Best Fit/Restriction Attributes box, select one of the following:
   • No age restriction—this is the default option and is the preferred option for most adult activities since you are less likely to have adult birth dates on record.
   • Age—this is the preferred option with children's activities. It allows you to note the age range for the participants that are expected to attend at this room/location. For example, for a 2nd Grade room, the age range is 7 to 8 years. For a 2-year old classroom, the age range is 2 to 2 years. This is also the preferred setting for nursery age children who have age ranges in months. Typically, using this option creates some overlap between RLCs. A 7-year old visitor may fit in both the 1st Grade RLC (6 to 7 years) and the 2nd Grade RLC (7 to 8 years). It's a good idea to train your Check-in volunteers to verify a child's grade before completing a check-in.

   Tip! In the event that you need to make sure everyone in a room is the same age, set the room up with ages 3 to 3 or 4 to 4, 5 to 5 etc. You don’t have to overlap if it doesn’t work for your ministry

   • Birth date range—this option provides the most accurate best age fit placement for your visitors. It also provides the most administrative overhead. You will define the Start and End birth dates for each of your RLCs. This information is typically made available by your local school district. The Start birth date is the oldest a child can be to participate in this RLC and the End date is the youngest a child can be to participate in this RLC. If you use this method, you must adjust your birth date ranges every year at promotion time. This method is never recommended for your nursery age children as their age range frequently changes, which requires weekly maintenance to keep RLCs current in Fellowship One.
5. In the Check-in Settings box, select the Visible for Check-in check box to ensure this RLC will display in Check-in. Additionally, you may also:
   • Select the Override activity check-in defaults option. This option will allow you to turn off/on the ability to print name tags or parent receipts for a specific RLC. When you select this option, two options appear: Print a Name Tag and Print a Parent Receipt. If you select these check boxes, labels WILL print for this RLC . If you clear these check boxes, labels WILL NOT print for this RLC. This is a helpful feature when you have cases where you do not want to print a parent receipt. For example, your 5th Grade students may not need a parent pick up receipt, especially if they are dismissed from class as soon as the service is over. For this RLC, leave the Print a Parent Receipt check box clear.
   • Clear the Automatically open check box. This option will display the RLC in Check-in, but will not allow participants to select it as a Check-in option. This is a typical selection for overflow rooms that are only used in cases where capacity has been met in other locations. The RLC can always be opened while the activity is in progress. See Live Checkins for details.
6. Click Add Room/Location. The RLC appears in the RLC grid at the bottom of the page.